What if Ticket Taker was Being Petty?
What if TT putting his hands on us wasn’t a power move on just us but also to Pierrot? Maybe it was also a petty display meant to “get back” at Pierrot for how he behaved earlier that day.
This observation came from a convo I was having with my mutual @flysoji!
If you’ve seen my previous theories, you know that I strongly believe that Ticket Taker closely parallels the Pantalone stock character from Commedia dell’arte. A hallmark of Pantalone’s personality is his pettiness and grudges.
Ticket Taker is a dominate-coded character. Physical contact plays a significant role in establishing power dynamics with characters like him, often serving to signal hierarchy or assert authority. Touching is intentional with him. It’s not overdone, but purposeful. Also notice how (in his tent) he makes contact from behind, where we’re most vulnerable and he is unseen in the shadows.
Considering that TT values hierarchy, I imagine he also values the troupe’s hierarchy and sees himself high up in its class. Pierrot would be below him in that ranking.
Earlier that day, Pierrot committed what Ticket Taker could have seen as three offenses:
3. Touching with the intention of restraint
Later in Ticket Taker’s tent, Pierrot cracks one of the mirrors. Likely being a fourth offense.
We’re the first person Pierrot has ever given his ticket to, and in doing so, he has essentially marked us as his.
What better way to assert some level of authority and retaliation than by touching what’s his but in your domain? Right in front of him?
But Ticket Taker can’t hurt us. I assume it’s because our red ticket protects us (at least from physical harm). But remember that TT doesn’t need to physically inflict pain to be effective.
I think TT was also petty in another way but this one takes a bit of reading between the lines. It’s when he mentions that “he doesn’t bite.”
When Ticket Taker says “What an impressive trick,” he’s likely saying it in a sassy, mocking tone due to the italics. Or at least SOME kind of emphasis.
He also says “I don’t bite” in italics so he may be emphasizing it in a mocking tone also.
At this point he’s well aware of Pierrot’s presence in the tent. Even if we choose to obey him, TT already assumes that we’ve been to each mirror when we go to his (which, again, lets him know that at least Pierrot is lurking. He still broke the mirror).
Just as with Pierrot’s, however, Ticket Taker assumes that we’ve also seen Harlequin’s mirror, whose reflection he makes bite us.
This is also where I can see TT holding some sort of grudge towards Harlequin.
But regardless of whether Harlequin is in Ticket Taker’s tent with us or not (which depends on if we show even a little interest in him), this assumption is likely still made and referenced.
The reason I mention these points is that Ticket Taker might be making a jab at Pierrot, Harlequin, or both when he says “I don’t bite.”
With that line, I interpret Ticket Taker basically saying:
“I’m not like HIM. I don’t bite like HE does.”
“I’m not like THEM. I don’t bite like THEY do.”
Because you can’t have one without the other.
Which is a petty jab when he knows that Pierrot is right behind him.
UPDATE: I’ve seen many people mention how TT was the one to first offer us his ticket. And if we fancy Pierrot he takes TT’s ticket and does a magic act to instead give us his instead. That could be another reason why he’s being petty lol, we were his first.
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